The Center for Creative Photography is currently exhibiting a series of photographs from the Aaron Siskind and Max Yavno Archives. Entitled "Mexican Tableaux," this set of photographs represents a portion of these artists' works from their independent travels in Mexico between 1955 and the early 1980s. "Mexican Tableaux" reveals vivid slices of Mexican culture - home, work and street life are all displayed in the work of Yavno; while Siskind's work is focused on the minutiae of urban Mexico, particularly close-up reviews of graffiti and advertisements painted on plaster walls. Additionally, the exhibit includes a variety of work from the Photo League, a group of New York photographers including Siskind and Yavno.

Siskind's close-up review of Mexico from the 1950s to the 1980s is focused on its physical structure. His emphasis on plaster walls and the bleeding, blending paint placed upon it is intriguing. His fame as a technical photographer is certainly emphasized in this section of work. The Siskind exhibit also includes a livelier element. While no humans are presented, there are some compelling visions of a cemetery, viewed from the side so that no gravestone is clearly visible, and a set of small shrines holding a variety of Christian symbols.

It is the work of Yavno, photographed in 1981, which is most compelling, and the most human. His capturing of work processes is magnificent: pigs being herded through the city, cobblers working at the street side, a haggard man in a paper hat polishing cups. One photo displays a huge sign painted on a wall advertising a variety of dental services and their prices, while another shows a man selling apples from a huge bin inside a clothing store. It is this focus on work, and its unique structure in Mexico, which benefits Yavno and reveals his heritage as a member of New York's famous Photo League.

The Photo League was a loosely organized group of photographers in New York who were attempting to use art as a means of social commentary and reform. In existence from 1936-1951, they attempted to portray the social ills and individual triumphs of New York. The work presented here covers a wide range of photographers, most notably Lewis Hine, whose photo essays of New York sweatshops led directly to the establishment of Child Labor Laws in the U.S. (though this work is unfortunately absent here).

"Mexican Tableaux" will show at the Center for Creative Photography until September 15, and it's array of powerful images is definitely worth checking out.